Friday 24 September 2010 – I’m finally on the road. Left Melbourne this morning and managed to successfully navigate my way down to Geelong and then the Great Ocean Road. And what a great way to start my trip - one of world's classic bike rides. And it didn't disappoint - lots of long sweeping bends, steep cliffs dropping off just feet from the road, fantastic views and load of interesting places to stop and explore. Made it to Apollo Bay by 4pm and as I was starting to lose my concentration and, to some degree, control of the bike, I decided to stop and book into the YHA. Will stay for a couple of days so I can explore some of the local area by foot – maybe see a Koala or two if I’m lucky. Only a couple of scary moments – the first when the tailwind of a passing truck nearly blew me off the road, the second when another biker came hurtling round a bend on the wrong side of the road and nearly went straight into me. Other than that and a moment of getting a bit mesmerised by all the bends, a fantastic run.

Posted by Jill Maden at September 26, 2010 08:53 AM GMT